Chicago Cubs continue riding the strength of their starting rotation

Left-hander Cole Hamels twirled a gem on Friday afternoon, continuing a recent trend of solid performances by the Chicago Cubs starting rotation.

Cole Hamels‘ eight-inning effort on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals may have been the sharpest I, personally, have seen him as a member of the Chicago Cubs. From start to finish, he was changing speeds, altering the eye level of hitters and carving up the entire lineup, allowing just three hits and a walk.

Getting quality from Hamels is really nothing new. We all know the shot in the arm he gave the Cubs after he came over from the Texas Rangers last summer, pitching to a 2.36 ERA in a dozen starts and even taking home National League Pitcher of the Month in August 2018. By and large, he’s carried that same quality into his first full season on the North Side.

“Did you notice the counts?” Joe Maddon asked MLB.com after Friday’s win. “The first three or four innings, it seemed like everything was 1-2. Great command of his changeup. Fastball was hotter. I saw more 92 [mph pitches] and 93 [mph pitches] consistently today. So hotter fastball, total command of his changeup and much better counts. So when you get to that point, hitters just can’t relax and sit on things. He was unpredictable and very accurate.”

Hamels struck out 10 and walked just one – dominating St. Louis for the second time in a week. Last time, he was outdueled by Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright – despite not allowing an earned run. This time, though, he came away with the win – and a bit of a pep in his step after continuing his career dominance against the Cubs’ arch rival. In 16 starts against the Redbirds, Hamels boasts an impressive 2.29 ERA and 0.934 WHIP.

Chicago Cubs: Quintana and Darvish have been critical pieces

Those three guys are undoubtedly the top three starters in Maddon’s arsenal. In a hypothetical best-of-five series come October, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see this trio penciled in as the Cubs’ starters. But don’t sleep on the final two guys rounding out the rotation, Jose Quintana and Yu Darvish.

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Quintana also got off to a quick start – but even since then, he’s been the epitome of consistency this season. He hasn’t been an ace, but despite what many think, Chicago didn’t acquire him two years ago to fill that role. They wanted him for his controllability and consistency – and that’s what they’ve gotten.

The southpaw has pitched at least six innings in seven of his 13 outings and has allowed more than three earned in just a pair of outings. As for Darvish, it’s been a lot of mixed signals – but things have been trending up of late.

In his last two starts, the right-hander has allowed just three earned runs in 11 1/3 innings of work. He’s struck out 11 and walked six – still a high number, but an ultimately manageable one.

Away from Wrigley Field, Darvish has actually been a quality starter: 11.8 strikeouts per nine and a 3.64 ERA in a half-dozen outings.

Getting quality from Darvish lately has helped the Cubs rotation round into the form we’d all hoped for: a one through five run of quality. With Craig Kimbrel on his way to shore up the bullpen, we could be headed for a run of dominance we haven’t seen from Chicago pitching in some time.